Hoist and feed hopper



8, 1939- A. c. RASMUSSEN v 2,168,495

' HOIST AND FEED HOPPER Filed March 7, 195B 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Em. m

HTTOIP/VEYS A. C. RASMUSSEN 'HOIS'I' AND FEED HOPPER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 7, 1938 Patented Aug. 8, 1939 PATENT OFFICE HOIST AND FEED HOPPER Alvin C. Rasmussen, Indianapolis, Ind., 'assignor to Insley Manufacturing Corporation, Indianapolis, Ind, a corporation Application March 7,

2 Claims.

This invention relates to hoppers of the type commonly used for transferring already mixed concrete from a mixing machine to the place of use of such concrete, and for like purposes.

Such hoppers ordinarily comprise a main body portion-and customarily a charging opening and a discharge opening. The hoppers are open at their upper ends, which comprise the largest diameter of the body portion, and taper toward their bottom ends to provide a restricted discharge opening. The hoppers are customarily charged through their top portion which comprises the charging opening, and discharged throughtheir lower restricted portion comprising the discharge portion, and, because of their construction, smaller at the bottom thanat the top, they are required to be maintained in upright position by means of hoisting tackle attached to a bail at the upper part of the main body portion, or a framework comprising a skeleton skirt portion is required to be provided for the purpose of enabling the hopper to be maintained in upright charging position.

Hoppers of the general construction just described are quite suitable for receiving the mixed concrete contents of a concrete mixer the discharge opening of which is above the highest portion of such a hopper so that the latter can receive the contents of the mixer when said contents are discharged into said hopper. However, in types of construction work utilizing central mixing plants requiring mixed concrete to be conveyed from the point of mixing to the place of use-at some distance therefrom by trucks, or, where concrete is mixed in transit, from the source of supply of the aggregates to the point of use of the mixed concrete, the common practice is to discharge the mixed concrete from the trucks or truck mixers into hand wheelbarrows or hand dump carts which then convey the mixed concrete to the point of use. This process requires that the trucks or truck mixers used for conveying the mixed concrete from the point of supply thereof to the job site, be held up considerable periods of time during the process of discharging into the hand dump carts. This is uneconomical and slows up work.

The trucks or truck mixers cannot be discharged into hoppers of the ordinary type as above described, because the discharge portions of such trucks or truck mixers is lower than the charging portion of the hopper.

To eliminate the necessity of holding up the truck mixers or trucks while discharging their contents in the ordinary manner, and to enable such trucks or truck mixers todischarge directly into hoppers of the type described, the present invention provides means for enabling such hoppers to be positioned with their sides on the ground, their horizontal dimensions being less 1938, Serial No. 194,450

than their vertical dimensions. The invention further provides a charging extension surrounding the charging opening. With these provisions the hopper is positioned with its side on the ground, and its top charging portion then becomes an end charging portion which is lower, when the hopper is in such position, than. would be the case were the hopper positioned vertically, as customary, so that trucks and truck mixers can be discharged directly into the hopper when it is positioned horizontally or on its side.

The invention further provides a supporting frame for the hopper when it is in horizontal position, a portion of which serves as a fulcrum for assisting in the raising of the hopper to vertical position after it is charged, and acting as a guard for protecting the discharge gate of such hopper from injury during the raising. of the hopper to vertical position.

Other and further objects of the invention will appear more fully as the description of the invention progresses.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 illustrates the application of the invention to a common type of hopper, showing said hopper in horizontal position or with one of its'sides resting on the ground.

Figure 2 illustrates the hopper of Figure 1 as when it has been raised to vertical. position.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the lower or discharge portion of a hopper and showing more particularly the supporting framework and fulcrum.

Figures 4 and 5 are side views of a hopper provided with a skeleton skirt portion, showing the application of the invention thereto, Figure 5 being a View taken at right angles to that of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a diagrammatic illustration showing the manner in which the skeleton skirt portion of the hoppers shown in Figures 4 and 5 is used as a fulcrum when such hopper is being raised to vertical position.

Figure 7 is a diagrammatic view taken in the directionof arrows 'l'! of Figure 5, illustrating especially the formation of the fulcrum member.

Referring first to Figures 1 to 3, the hopper is seen to comprise a main body portion A having a chute extension I normally closed by a gate 2 pivoted at 3 and adapted to be actuated by a handle 4. The main body portion A is provided with a charging extension B, attached to said main. body portion A as at 5. The charging extension B partially surrounds the upper portion of the main body portion A, but is open at B,at one side, to provide a charging opening.

Attached to the charging extension B is a bracket 1 to which is pivoted a bail 8, which latter is adapted to be connected with hoisting tackle for raising the hopper to vertical position -tion A as at as illustrated in Figure 2, and lowering it to horizontal position as illustrated in Figure 1, in which latter position it is adapted to be charged through the charging opening 6 from a truck mixer, truck, or the like, with whatever material is being transported thereby.

The main body portion A is provided at on side thereof with a supporting frame, generally indicated C, comprising longitudinal channel members 9 and transverse channel members In secured to the longitudinal members 9. The supporting frame is provided with a roller ll supported between the longitudinal channel members 9 in any suitable manner so as to be rotatable.

It is not necessary, of course, that the member ll be rotatable. In lieu of the roller H, there may be employed a round bearing supported between and welded to or otherwise nonrotatably secured to channel members 9.

When it is desired to charge the hopper illustrated in Figures 1 to 3 by discharging thereinto the contents of a truck or truck mixer, the hoisting tackle to which the bail 8 is attached is lowered so that the hopper rests in a horizontal position with the supporting frame C upon the ground. When the contents of the truck or truck mixer have been dumped into the hopper through the charging opening 6 the hoisting tackle is raised so that the hopper fulcrums to a. vertical position, with the roller ll bearing against the ground and acting as a fulcrum.

It will be noted that the supporting frame 0 is so applied to the main body portion of the hopper A that the portion thereof to which the roller H is applied extends below the charging portion l of the hopper, thus serving to protect the discharge gate 2 from damage which might otherwise be caused when the hopper was being raised to vertical position. The positioning of the roller ll serves to maintain the discharge gate 2 above the ground at all times even though the roller may be resting against the ground as when acting in the capacity of a fulcrum in the raising of the hopper to vertical position.

Now describing the invention as it relates to the construction shown in Figures 4 to 6, the hopper therein illustrated is of the type shown and described in Frederick E. Ray Letters Patent No. 2,134,643 issued October 25, 1938. It comprises primarily a main body portion A wider at the top, as atfi, than at the bottom l2. The wider opening G comprises the charging opening of the hopper, and the narrower opening at the bottom I2 is normally closed by oppositely swinging gates l3 pivoted to the main body porl4. Opening and closing of the gates I3 is controlled by actuation of a handle through linkage I5, as more particularly described in the said patent above mentioned.

Attached to the main body portion A of the hopper is a skeleton skirt portion Hi, to the bottom of which is attached a circular ring I! providing a base upon which the hopper may'stand for maintaining it in an upright position when resting upon the ground. 7 r

A charging extension B partially surrounds the charging opening 6, said charging extension being closed at the top l8. Referring to Figure 6 wherein the hopper of Figures 4 and 5 is diagrammatically shown in various positions between vertical and horizontal as when! being raised or lowered from horizontal to vertical positions, the dotted line position generally designated by the numeral I9 shows the position of the charging extension B with reference to the main body portion A when the hopper is lowered on its side in horizontal position for charging from a truck or truck mixer. The raising and lowering of the hopper from vertical to horizontal positions is accomplished in a manner similar to that described in reference to the construction of Figures 1 to 3 while a member I'I secured to the ring I! acts in place of the roller as a fulcrum for this purpose.

A bail 2|], attached to the upper portion of the hopper, is adapted to be connected in any suitable manner with hoisting tackle for this purpose. The portion 2| of the charging extension B is open to receive the contents charged into the hopper when the latter is in its horizontal position as when being charged by a truck or truck mixer.

When either of the types of hoppers illustrated in the drawings is in its horizontal position as when being charged by a truck or truck mixer, the material so charged gravitates to the side downwardmost in such position, which, for the time being, constitutes the bottom of the hopper, and in the case of the construction illustrated in Figures 1 to 3 the hopper may be filled to the point 22 when the hopper is in horizontal position. When the hopper is of the Figures 4 to 6 construction it may be filled to the point 23.

During the course of raising either of the hoppers from horizontal to vertical positions after they have been charged, the material received in the hopper will shift toward the portion thereof which constitutes the lower restricted portion of the hopper when the hopper is in vertical position. Thus when the hoppers have been raised to vertical position, their contents may be dis charged by gravity upon the opening of the discharge doors 2 or I3 at the will of the operator who controls the rate of discharge by opening or closing the doors to the extent desired.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

l. A hopper of the class described, comprising, in combination, a main body portion having a charging opening and a discharging opening, a gate normally closing said discharging opening, a charging extension attached to said main body portion and partially surrounding said charging opening whereby said hoper may be charged with material when it is resting upon one of its sides, said extension being comparatively shallow at its end and sides to permit of dumping the contents of low charging receptacles thereon to and from said ends and sides, a supporting frame attached to said side of said main body portion and adapted to support the hopper upon the ground when it is resting in horizontal position, said supporting frame including a fulcrum positioned below the discharge opening and about which the hopper may pivot when being raised from horizontal to vertical position, said fulcrum acting as a guard to protect said gate during the raising of the hopper from a horizontal to a vertical position.

2. A hopper as claimed in claim 1, combined with a roller mounted at the fulcrum portion of said frame for facilitating the tilting of the hopper from horizontal to vertical position.

ALVIN C. RASMUSSEN. 

